Today, "The Flying Friar" graphic novel ships in the USA. Low orders, less than 1 in 10 comic shops will stock it. Probably less than 1 in 20. And then only a couple of issues. MidTown Comics is a glorious exception.

So. Go into a comic shop and note its absence. Then complain to the high hills that they haven't got a copy. Go here if you need some ammunition. If you fancy asking the retailer to order a copy for you, please do. It's from Markosia. You may need order code: AUG073845. But either way, make some noise about it.

Then tell me the response you get. If you do choose to order a copy, tell me how long, or if at all, it takes to arrive.

The results of this experiment will form a Lying In the Gutters vodcast in the future. It may well change the comics industry. For the better as well, which is nice.

Oh I remember having wanted to check this comic out. The cover art looks beautiful. I'll definitely be asking my LCS if they could get it if they already don't have it coming in, though I don't remember the guy calling this particular title off his list.

I am quite curious about this one, so I'll order some in to the comic shop I work at (Ace Comics in Colchester, ever heard of it?). If I like it, I'll ask my boss to permanently keep a copy on the shelf as best we can.

Whoops! Good point. I retract my comic-phobic statement forthwith, and replace it with the marginally less sweeping comic-ignorant. The Guardian and the Observer have often had a slender grasp of the medium, Posy Simmonds, Steve Bell, and Garry Trudeau aside. The Review section has had some good features but often that's because they get writers from outside their pool to write them.

Actually, to be honest, it's their treatment of popular culture in general that gets my goat, and I got carried away. For every great piece they write, there's a couple of others that are horrible. I just have a beef with their lazy coverage, mostly because pop culture is one of the few things I have a grip on, so when I see newspaper articles about pop culture that are littered with easily correctable errors, poor research, ill-thought out arguments and misunderstandings, it makes me wonder if all of their reporting is as error-strewn but I can't tell because I'm a dunce who has little grasp of current affairs and world history. Of course, I say all of this but let's be honest, they do have some good and reliable cultural commentators, and better the Guardian's pop culture coverage than any other paper, like the Mail (Reading Comics Made My Son Blind and Gay, says neglectful single working mother who should stay in the kitchen like a good girl!!!).

Anyway, all of this overshadows the main point I was trying to make; kudos on the plug. Hope it bears fruit.